Monday, November 19, 2007

Smiles

It appears the famous Thailand smiles are a little wider these days :)

Here's an article from the Bangkok Post:

Country happier than ever in October

The Gross Domestic Happiness Index (GDHI) for October hit the highest point of the year, thanks to the positive report on His Majesty the King’s health, according to a survey conducted recently by Assumption University’s Abac Poll.

Despite political uncertainty and economic slowdown, Thai DGHI rose from 5.94 in September to 6.90 in October, which was the highest since the beginning of the year.

Noppadol Kannikar, director of Abac Poll, said the survey was conducted between October 29 and November 17 among 4,860 people in 21 provinces nationwide found that people’s happiness arisen from the improvement of King’s health topped the list, scoring 9.34 out of 10 full marks.

Happiness towards family atmosphere came second with 7.47 points followed by Thai culture which earned 7.44 points.

Three issues including the images of the present government and politicians, and the situation in the three troubled southern provinces ranked bottom on the list, said Mr. Noppadol.

The image of the current government scored 5.19, up from 4.88 in September, while the image of politicians and the bloody violence in the three restive provinces scored an identical 2.62, he added.